Graham inferno overruns towers
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Cabins imperiled; stretch of 87 shut
Susan Carroll
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 7, 2004 12:00 AM
SAFFORD - Fire swept over a $2 million cluster of communication towers in the Pinaleno Mountains on Tuesday as firefighters struggled to keep flames from reaching more than 100 summer cabins and a multimillion dollar observatory atop Mount Graham.
Fire management officers were unable to assess the damage to the towers and buildings atop Heliograph Peak late Tuesday night because of the heat but said pilots flying overhead reported they appeared to be standing.
Meanwhile in east-central Arizona, the "Willow" fire jumped a control line late Tuesday, leading the Department of Public Safety to close Arizona 87 from Arizona 188 north to the community of Rye late Tuesday while firefighters conducted burnouts along the highway. Officials expect the highway to be impacted for several days.
That fire has burned 90,500, acres and is 22 percent contained.
Elsewhere, in the Coconino National Forest,the "Jacket" fire increased to 13,000 acres late Tuesday night from about 11,000 acres, threatening a power line that leads directly to Phoenix, according to Jason Kirchner, fire information official.
Overnight, firefighters completed burnout operations around the power line, Kirchner said, which is just one mile from the edge of the blaze. Firefighters have contained 23 percent of the fire.
The "Nuttall" fire, the top priority in the Southwest and the state's second-largest, grew in intensity Tuesday as humidity dropped and the flames moved into steep terrain.
Early Tuesday morning, fire management officers warned that the fire may jump containment lines and start burning buildings.
Dan Oltrogge, incident commander, said the two fires that make up the "Nuttall Complex," the Nuttall and "Gibson" fires, grew to more than 25,000 acres by Tuesday night but did not climb over the ridge.
The fire behaved aggressively, burning deep in canyons and making runs up slopes.
By late Tuesday, the flames reached less than two miles from the mountain community of Turkey Flat, which Oltrogge described as "still very vulnerable."
Outside Safford, the fire spewed thick columns of brown smoke and ash from the mountains, casting a red glow over the sun and a heavy haze over the city, about 125 miles east of Tucson.
By 4:30 p.m., the flames in the Pinaleno Mountains ran up Heliograph Peak, a summit with a view of the steel frame of the Large Binocular Telescope, which is under construction and expected to be the most powerful telescope in the world when it is completed in 2006.
In addition to the communication towers, Heliograph Peak is the site of a historic fire lookout tower and a 1930s cabin that firefighters wrapped with protective foil Monday in case the flames climbed out of the canyon.
Fire officials said they would wait until today to see how much damage the buildings and communications complex sustained.
Oltrogge said Tuesday morning that fire officials are optimistic about protecting the multimillion-dollar observatory but will not be able to directly defend the communities of Columbine or Turkey Flat, mainly wood-paneled homes nestled in stands of trees.
"There's a good chance we will lose structures," Oltrogge said. "That's just a fact of life, but we're doing everything we can to keep the fire out of there."
Air Operations Coordinator Alex Stone said two air tankers used Monday to battle the fire in Marijilda Canyon were back in use Tuesday morning after assisting at the "Gila" fire in New Mexico.
Firefighters launched a steady air assault on the fire moving through Noon Canyon, where Turkey Flat is located, flying 11 helicopters and the two air tankers through brownish clouds of smoke.
On Tuesday afternoon, officials concentrated on slowing the fire's approach toward Turkey Flat, which sits on the southern side of the canyon. Pilots dropped water and prepared to bring in retardant to keep the flames from moving from the northern part of the drainage.
"This is the best support for the people on the ground," Stone said as a K-Max helicopter dipped its red bucket into an elevated pool to reload. "The helicopters are buying them time right now."
Nearly 1,000 firefighters were assigned to the Nuttall and Gibson fires, which fire officials are trying to battle using one strategy.
The goal, officials said, is to hold the fire on the northern side of the Pinalenos and protect homes in the two mountain communities and the observatory atop Mount Graham by clearing brush and trees that would fuel the fire.
Officials warned the fire could make an aggressive run toward the ridgeline firefighters have struggled to hold since the flames picked up this weekend.
Hotshot crews are sleeping on the mountain instead of returning to base camp, in hopes of containing the fire.
The two fires started on June 22 and 26. They are burning about three miles apart, but Small said they are expected to merge.
Oltrogge said the fire is costing about $1 million per day to fight.
